Maybe Dreams Do Come True
by iwomans-sister
Summary: Darien does his best to talk Claire into giving him the recipe to the counteragent. But in the end if he had to choose between freedom and revenge, which would he take?


Author: iwomans_sister

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from the Invisible Man. They belong to SciFi. However Marcus Winston is mine.

Rating: PG, for violence

Genre: Drama and Action/Adventure

E-mail: Naomi@secret-agent.com

Spoilers: Impetus, Tiresias and Money for Nothing part 1 and 2.

Title: Maybe Dreams Do Come True

Authors Note: This was the very first fic I wrote. It had never been Beta Read until now. Also, I have made a few changes. *A special thanks to my wonderful friend and Beta Reader Liz*

~~~~

"A cat named Kennedy once said, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. " I think he got it a little right because it seems to me that I'm the one doing everything for my country. Sure they give me something back, a needle in my arm. In other words being blackmailed by the government really gets a guy in touch with his emotions.

~~~~

Darien looked over at his alarm clock. He still had two hours till he needed to get up. He tossed and turned for a few more minutes; then he finally fell asleep. 

~~~~

Darien woke up and looked around his room. When his eyes settled on his alarm clock he jumped out of bed. It hadn't gone off and he needed to be at work within ten minutes. Darien walked into his bathroom. He looked at his hair, it was a mess. "Oh well, I'll be late."

~~~~

"Claire." Darien said as he walked into the Keep.

"Hey partner, I know you need your shot and all so that you don't turn into some kind of psychopathic freak or something but Claire isn't in there anyway." Bobby said, standing outside of the Keep.

"Where is she?" Darien asked.

"She's in with the Official. I was sent to get you. The Official has a job for us and it includes Keepie."

~~~~

"Oh good, nice of you to join us Fawkes. What's the matter, your alarm clock not go off? Or did you just have something better to do?" The Official asked sarcastically. 

Darien looked over at Bobby. "This is going to be a long day." He said under his breath.

"What was that Agent Fawkes?" The Official asked.

"Nothing." Darien replied.

"That's what I thought." The Official waited a few seconds and then said, "Eberts." Eberts walked over and set a folder on the Official's desk. The Official opened it and handed out three copies for their

mission. "As you probably already know the Keeper is coming on this mission."

"Do you mind if I ask why? I mean, we can handle ourselves, you know." Bobby said sarcastically. 

The Official looked at Bobby, more irritated with the question than the tone of voice. "I have my reasons, none of which are of your concern. But I will tell you that this mission may take more than a week so yes,

Claire is needed to give Fawkes his counteragent. Unless you'd rather he go quicksilver mad."

"Nope, I was just wondering." Bobby said. He tried not to look around the room; he could already feel Claire and Darien's eyes on him.

"You will be staying in the same hotel as the suspect. He is a small time arms dealer. You guys are to set up a buy and when he sells you bring him in."

~~~~

Claire and Darien sat in the van. Bobby had just left to get some coffee for them. "Claire I was thinking, why don't you just give me the recipe for the counteragent and let me get out of this place?" 

Claire looked over at Darien shocked. She hadn't expected him to ask such a question. "Well I can think of two reasons right now. The first reason is soon you will build a immunity to the counteragent. Then you

will go into quicksilver madness and no one will be able to do anything about. Even if they could what if they didn't get to you in time?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Darien asked, a little hurt.

"Well Darien, what if you went to stage five madness again? You almost killed people last time. And you would have if it wasn't for us getting the stage five counteragent from Arnaud." 

"Hey, Arnaud didn't give you anything."

"Oh yeah, then what did he do exactly?" Claire asked in wonderment.

"Well, he traded it so he could go invisible the right way instead off becoming a fireball of ultraviolet light." Darien said with a smirk. 

"Darien, not to burst your bubble, but when you almost killed Bobby a while back you said to me, The next time I do something like that I want a bullet in the head not a needle in the arm.' And you weren't even in stage five. Not to be mean but if you could almost kill Bobby, someone you know and trust, well..." Claire paused for a moment, "What would you do in stage five to someone you've never even met?"

"Claire..." Darien started to speak, but trailed off as the van door opened.

~~~~

Bobby looked at Claire and Darien's faces. Both of them looked upset. "Hey you guys, I got the coffee." Neither of them looked at him. It was as if they were holding a conversation with their eyes. "Is everything

okay in here?"

Darien looked over at Bobby for the first time since he had opened the van door. "Yeah everything is just fine. I just have one more question though."

"What?" Claire said as she sighed. 

"You said what the first reason was, but what was the second?"

"Darien, can we talk about this later?" Claire asked.

"Sure." Darien replied. Then he turned away and looked out the passenger's side window.

~~~~

The alarm clock went off and Bobby woke up. He tossed and turned for a few minutes and then decided he'd better wake Claire and Darien up. Bobby got out of bed and stepped on Darien. 

"I don't want to get up yet mommy. Please! Can't I sleep for a few more minutes?" 

Bobby looked at Darien. "Fawkes, no offense but I'm not your mommy." 

"Huh? What?" Was Darien's reply. 

"Never mind I'll tell you later."

Darien and Bobby had tossed a coin for the first bed. Of course, Claire got the other one. "Hey Fawkes, what where you and the Keep talking about yesterday in the van?" Bobby had been wondering all night, but he had just built up the courage to ask.

"Well, it's not really that important, but I asked Claire if..." Darien was cut off by the sound of Claire moving in her bed.

"What time is it Bobby?" Claire asked groggily. 

Bobby looked over at the clock. "It's 6:13, I was about to wake you but..." 

"That's okay, but I get the shower first."

"No arguing there Keepie, Fawkes and I are going to go get breakfast anyway. You want something?" 

"Sure. Thank you Bobby." Claire said. Then she looked over at Darien as if saying she had been awake and heard the whole conversation.

~~~~

"So?" Bobby asked as soon as they were out of the hotel and out of earshot of Claire. 

"So what?" Darien said pretending he didn't know what Bobby was talking about. 

"What were you and the Keep talking about yesterday?"

"Nothing, like I said before it doesn't really matter." 

"Hey partner what happened? Ten minutes ago you were going to tell me." 

"Nothing, I just changed my mind that's all. Anyway, what kind of doughnut would Claire like?"

Noticing the tone in his partners voice, Bobby decided to drop the subject. "I think she'd go for jelly filled." He said. Then finished pouring the coffee.

~~~~

Claire looked around; Darien and Bobby weren't back yet. She started replaying yesterday's conversation with Darien in her head. She really wanted to give him the recipe for the counteragent. She knew what it was like for him, being forced to stay somewhere you don't want to be. Only it was a little different. He was there because he needed the counteragent. She had been there because of Gloria. Now she was there for him. But nothing was holding her down. She could leave

any time she wanted to. But he was being held there until she could figure out how to get the gland out. Just because Darien needed the counteragent didn't mean that the Official should make him stay. But she understood it all the same.

~~~~

"Hey Claire, I'm back." Came Darien's voice. 

"Darien, can I talk to you outside?"

"Sure." Darien said.

Darien and Claire walked outside towards the van. "Where is Bobby, by the way?" Claire asked in puzzlement. 

"He is with the arms dealer trying to make a deal to buy 4,000 guns. I don't even want to guess how the Official got that kind of money. He's looking at over a million." Darien whistled through his teeth. Darien looked at Claire; she was fidgeting. "Sorry, so what did you want to talk to me about?"

~~~~

"Hello, my name is Robert Hobbes." Bobby said, as he shook the other mans hand. 

"My name is Marcus Winston. Sorry I couldn't tell you my name on the phone, it was just security precautions."

"No problem. So, do we have a deal?" 

"Yes, but something has changed."

"What? You can't get all the merchandise?" Bobby asked sarcastically.

"It is the same merchandise we made a deal on. But the only difference is my boss wants to talk to you before the merchandise is handed over." 

"Yeah, well why's that?"

"Well it is a big order."

"And that's none of your concern. You sell I buy. What I do with it is my business."

"Well, I know that. It's just my boss wants to met you, and I'm not going to question him." said Marcus.

Oh yeah, well what's you boss's name?" Bobby asked. 

"It's funny you should ask because he's never really told me his name. But I did hear someone once call him... Oh, what was it, some kind of Swiss name..." 

Bobby interrupted. "Arnaud?" He asked

"Yeah, how did you know?" 

"We've made a trade before." Bobby said, thinking of the trade he made with Arnaud for the stage five counteragent. "If that's all, I'll see you and your boss at the pick up point. Oh, and tell him the buyer is his old friend Bobby Hobbes. He'll really want to come." And with that Bobby walked out the door.

~~~~

"What are you trying to say Claire?" Darien asked. Claire looked down, pulled something out of her pocket, and handed it to Darien. He took it from her hand and opened it. "How to make cake?" Darien asked, he looked at it again. Then looked up at Claire. "Hey, this isn't what I think it is, is it?" 

"It is..." Claire took a short pause. "It's the recipe to the counteragent." 

Darien looked over at Claire astonished. "But, why?"

"I thought about it and I decided if I were in your place I'd want someone to help me."

Darien looked at her again. "Claire I don't know what to say... I... I..."

"Just say thank you and get out of here." Claire smiled. 

Darien moved closer to Claire and kissed her softly on the forehead. "Thank you." He said with gratitude in his voice. Then he got up and walked away.

~~~~~

Bobby walked over to Claire "Hey Keepie, where's Fawkes going? And did I see him kiss you?" 

"I think he is going back to the hotel. And I don't know what you think you saw." Claire replied with a smile. 

"Well, I really need to talk to him. It turns out the guy we're buying from is... well, is Arnaud."

Claire looked at him with shock on her face. "Hey Bobby, why don't you go get us some lunch and I'll tell Darien. Okay?"

"Sure Keep, whatever you say. I'll call the Official too."

"Why?" Claire said, wondering how he knew what she had done. 

"To tell him about Arnaud. Why, what did you think I was going to call him about?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering." Boy that was close, I wonder if Bobby's paranoia is starting to rub off on me.' Claire thought.

~~~~

As Claire was walking over to the hotel room she was contemplating on whether to tell Darien or not. She knew as soon as he'd hear Arnaud's name he'd want to stay and take him down. But if Darien was to get out of here the time was now. She put her key in the door turned the door knob and walked inside. Darien looked up at her, his bag was already packed. 

"Claire I was wondering if I was going to be able to tell Bobby what is going on? And what are you going to tell the Official?" 

"Well, I don't think it would be wise to talk to Bobby. I think you should just go now. Without looking back. And when you leave the Official will think you just ran off. With no counteragent."

"Claire, what if he finds out?"

"What is he going to do, fire me? Good, I don't like the place anyway." Claire was surprised by the tone of voice she had just used; apparently so was Darien. "Im sorry," She said. Then, thinking about the reason she'd come, she started to talk again. "Darien." 

"Yeah?" 

"We may have a problem."

~~~~

"What do you mean Arnaud's here? I don't understand, how could he be here?"

"He's the one we're buying guns from. Darien, I only told you because you needed to know. But you can't stay. Hitch hike for all I care, just get out of here before it's too late."

"Too late? Too late for what, Claire?" Darien asked. 

"Bobby called the Official about Arnaud. Darien, you're going to have to choose between getting revenge or getting away from the Agency. 

Trust me. It's not a hard choice."

"Then I guess I don't have time for goodbyes." Darien said.

Claire was shocked, she was almost sure he would stay. "Bye Darien, when you're gone Ill tell Bobby bye for you."

"Don't worry. I thought I wouldn't have time, so I wrote him a note.

"Darien?" Claire asked. 

"Yes?"

"You once asked me what my last name was." 

"Yeah , I remember. So?" 

"My name is Claire Marie Matson."

Darien smiled. "Well, it was nice to meet you Miss Matson. And have a wonderful life."

"You too Mr. Fawkes." And with that Darien walked out the door.

~~~~

Claire watched from the window as Darien held his thumb up. A car stopped and he grabbed his bag and got in. "Goodbye Darien." Claire said as a tear ran down her face.

~~~~

Darien woke up and looked around his room. Realization set in and he didn't like it. It was all a dream, one of many. Will I ever get out off here.' He asked himself. After thinking a minute Darien decided he'd better get to the Agency.

~~~~

Darien looked at his tattoo; he had two segments left. Well I suppose I should go see Claire for my shot, Darien thought. He put his key card in the slot and the door opened. "Claire, are you in here?" He asked. 

"Yeah, ready for your shot?"

"Yeah, I'm ready. But I have a question." 

"I'm listening." Claire said.

"Claire I was thinking, why don't you just give me the recipe for the counteragent and let me leave?"

Claire looked at Darien. "That's not fair Darien, I can't give you the counteragent recipe."

Why not?" Darien asked.

"Well because soon you will build a immunity to the counteragent and then you will go into Stage five madness."

"That's all I wanted to hear. Thank you Claire." Darien said as he smiled. So there still was a chance for him, if his dreams ever came true anyway.

~~~~

"I think it was a Brit named Sir Robert Walpole who coined the phrase, "All men have their price." I happen to agree. Although my point of view on the matter has changed. I used to think my price would always be money, or diamonds. Or gold. Imagine my surprise when I realized that my price became a needle in the arm. Don't get me wrong... I still have expensive taste. Your tax dollars paid millions for me to get that needle."

The End


End file.
